Quote Originally Posted by ryanman View Post
Quote Originally Posted by superheavyrhun View Post
Everyone talked about Cavendish being an overwhelming favourite when it came to the race today, but I wonder if it would have been wiser to allow Wiggins and Froome free reign to try and attack and join the breakaways. I know Cavendish is an amazing sprinter, and yes he's won a lot of stages, but even in the tour de france when he is in a sprint he loses more than he wins. The tactic depended on GB dominating and being able to give him the same lead out he got on the Champs Elysses.

Giving Froome the freedom to attack around Box Hill would have been very interesting, especially as he had been a workhorse for Wiggins for the majority of the last month. The plan was all about gold, while if Froome broke it down into a group of four or five then he'd have been in a good position for a medal.
Take your point but putting Froome in a breakaway would have made it a complete lottery. In hindsight it woud have been better to have had a ticket in the lottery than the no ticket situation we ended up with but thats hindsight. Our tactics were right but you need more than just the right personel and tactics in road racing.
Also, when it finishes in a pure bunch sprint on in the Tour de France Cav actually wins the vast majority of the time.
I'd have to disagree that he wins the majority of the sprints, there's just too many other riders and bunch finishes aren't simply a case of the fastest guy wins.
They tried to use their Team Sky approach on a stage that was subtly different, namely that it didn't have team radios, and it was five rather than ten riders per team. Yes, I'm talking in retrospect, so it's much easier now, but today shows that a team of five isn't enough to dominate a peloton unless you have the co-operation of another team.

As for the beach volleyball Miles...giggedy.